This invention relates generally to pipe hangers, and particularly to an improved watering pipe hanger including means for preventing fowl from roosting on the pipe and hanger.
In the poultry industry, it is necessary to have a drinking water supply readily available to the fowl in the poultry sheds. One prior art device (to be described in more detail hereinafter) incorporates a PVC pipe which carries water and has nipples inserted in the pipe wall, the nipples being engaged by the fowl to release water from the pipe. The PVC pipe is supported along its length by a more rigid metal pipe and connectors at closely spaced intervals. The rigid pipe is attached to an overhead support in a shed by wire hangers at intervals of perhaps ten feet.
Because the fowl tend to roost on top of the rigid pipe, it is desirable to provide a means to discourage the roosting. It is common to have an electrically charged wire supported slightly above the length of the rigid pipe, which causes fowl to avoid the rigid pipe altogether. That system allows the fowl to drink from the nipples in the PVC pipe but discourages them from roosting on the rigid support pipe. The disadvantage of the above prior art system is that it is relatively expensive and difficult to install and maintain because it is made of metal and requires a large number of parts.
Another arrangement is described in the Ehud Uri U.S. Pat. No. 4,852,522 dated Aug. 1, 1989. This arrangement includes a series of flange sections which fit on the upper sides of a plastic water pipe, bridging sections between the flange sections, saddle clamps on the underside of the pipe for fastening the pipe to the flange sections, and hangers attached to the flange sections. The flange section includes an upwardly extending anti-roost part. This arrangement includes five different parts including the pipe, some of the parts being bolted together. As a consequence, this arrangement is relatively expensive to manufacture and difficult to assemble because of the number of parts.
The F. W. Steudler U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,061, dated Jan. 9, 1990, shows a drinking system including an anti-roost wire. This system also includes a water trough having an anti-roost rib on its bottom side (see FIG. 4 of the patent). The system shown in this patent is also constructed of a large number of individual parts which require expense to manufacture and time to assemble.